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Gaining Traktion: An Interview With CMD

CMD aka Cyan (Corina MacDonald) is an electronic music maker and radio host based out of Montreal, Quebec. She’s been producing Modular_Systems on CKUT 90.3 FM for over a decade now, all of which are diligently archived on her website going back to 2004. With several releases out on labels such as Fur Trade and Basic Sounds and a live performance at the 2015 edition of MUTEK, she’s been building a reputation for quality output. We got a chance to pick her brain a bit about what got her into making music and her processes. She has done a DJ mix exclusively for Femmecult which you will find below the interview. Thanks for reading!

Femmecult:

How did you get into making music, and at what age did you become interested in electronic music specifically?

CMD:

I never studied music formally, except for some sporadic guitar lessons as a teenager. I think my interest in making electronic music came out of a trajectory related to radio, sound editing and DJing. I started getting seriously into electronic music in my early twenties, after spending some time in Scotland and then relocating to Montreal from Calgary. Moving around and being exposed to different music scenes was really exciting and motivated me to get more involved.

Femmecult:

Did you have an underground collective or group of friends, or support networks that first influenced you to pursue this field of interest?

CMD:

Shortly after moving to Montreal I started volunteering at CKUT, and many of the first friends I made here were DJs and producers, so music has been the common factor in much of my social life. I’ve founded a couple of different collectives over the years with friends as a way to collaborate and organize events that showcased our particular visions of electronic music and art, whether it was all women DJ nights or juxtapositions of experimental and dancefloor music with visual artists.

Femmecult:

What inspired you to make your first attempts to produce electronic music? Tell us about your first experiences working with this medium.

CMD:

Well, being out at shows, on the dancefloor, DJing and learning about music was a constant inspiration. I saw what my producer friends were doing and thought ‘I could do that!’ I realized that I could just get started with the means most readily available to me, i.e. my computer. I’m kind of a tinkerer when it comes to software so I would usually just dive in and mess around and see if I could figure out how things work. I’ve probably tried almost every music production software at some point, as well as things like Max-MSP and Pure Data. Later on I invested in some hardware as well. Friends along the way have helped me to learn more about composition or about specific parts of the production process, but mostly it’s through trial and error that I’ve progressed. The ongoing learning process is part of what makes it interesting for me. It’s only in the last few years that my experiments have started to come together in a more coherent way with the CMD project.

Femmecult:

What types of instruments / gear / software do you use to produce? Has it changed over time, and if so, why?

CMD:

The software tools that I’ve really stuck with over time have been Audiomulch, Cubase and Ableton Live, plus an assortment of soft synths. I’ve accumulated some hardware over time as well – a sampler, synths and even a homemade oscillator that is fun to play with. I think the basic setup and process hasn’t really changed that much over time, but has incorporated new elements slowly, and maybe it’s become more refined in the sense that I can get the kinds of sounds I want more quickly now than when I first started and was just staring at a blank canvas so to speak. I think my setup for live performance however will continue to change as I’m always looking for different ways to do it.

Femmecult:

You run the Modular_Systems radio show on CKUT 90.3FM in Montreal. Tell us about your experience with that, and what your motivations are for producing the show.

CMD:

I’ve been hosting Modular Systems for about 12 years. In it’s current incarnation it’s a one hour program every other Sunday afternoon. CKUT is a campus-community radio station so all the programming is done on a volunteer basis, and there is a very committed community of music lovers of all stripes there which makes it a fun place to be. I love sharing music with people, and I like to assemble the show by tracing common sonic threads across different styles of electronic music that I’m enjoying at the moment. It’s also a platform that I use to support local artists and events and to interview artists when they come through town.

Femmecult:

What has your experience been promoting yourself as an artist? Are there some tricks of the trade that you have learned through your years spent gaining experience as an artist that you would like to share?

CMD:

I’m not really good at promoting myself! So I don’t have any tricks, but what I could say is… don’t stay at home, go out and meet some of your fellow artists, see what they’re up to, organize events with them, work on projects together, host a radio show or do a podcast series, etc. So I would say focus less on promoting yourself individually and more on collaborating to support an artistic community wherever you are.

Femmecult:

Where would you like to be in your music career in 5 years? What kinds of goals do you set for yourself, if any, for pushing things forward? What is on the horizon next for your musical endeavors?

CMD:

I don’t really set specific goals, but I would like to perform more often and be able to tour outside of Montreal and Canada, so I’ll be focusing on further developing my live set in the next few months. I also want to release some music in the coming year that I’ve been working on, and I have a couple of potential collaborations in the works that I’m excited about.

Femmecult:

What have been some of the best things that have happened to you being involved in electronic music scene? the worst things?

CMD:

I’ve had opportunities to be a part of some great events. Playing at MUTEK in 2015 was a highlight, I also played at their Nuit Blanche event last year with Kenny Larkin and Kevin Saunderson headlining which was an amazing experience. And I always have a blast playing at small parties with my Montreal fam. I would say that being part of the electronic music scene in Montreal has been really positive, although as in any such scene there are the occasional bumps.